William Edward John McCarthy, Baron McCarthy (30 July 1925 – 18 November 2012) was a British Labour politician. McCarthy was a fellow of

Nuffield College Nuffield College () is one of the Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. It is a graduate college specialising in the social sciences, particularly economics, politics and sociology. N ...

and Templeton College, Oxford and a specialist in

industrial relations Industrial relations or employment relations is the multidisciplinary academic field that studies the employment relationship; that is, the complex interrelations between employers and employees, labor union, labor/trade unions, employer organ ...

. He was created a

life peer In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the peerage whose titles cannot be inherited, in contrast to hereditary peers. Life peers are appointed by the monarch on the advice of the prime minister. With the exception of the D ...

on 19 January 1976 as Baron McCarthy, ''of

Headington Headington is an eastern suburb of Oxford, in the county of Oxfordshire, England. It is at the top of Headington Hill overlooking the city in the Thames valley below, and bordering Marston, Oxford, Marston to the north-west, Cowley, Oxfordshire ...

in the

City of Oxford Oxford () is a cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the oldest university in the English-speaking world; it has buildings in every ...

''. From 1979 to 1997 he was Opposition Spokesperson for Employment. McCarthy was described as "one of Britain’s most influential academics in the field of industrial relations, a painstaking arbiter in the most testing of disputes"."Lord McCarthy: Telegraph obituary" at telegraph.co.uk
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Background

McCarthy was born at the City of London Maternity Hospital on 30 July 1925, and grew up in

Islington Islington ( ) is an inner-city area of north London, England, within the wider London Borough of Islington. It is a mainly residential district of Inner London, extending from Islington's #Islington High Street, High Street to Highbury Fields ...

, London. He attended Holloway County School (now Holloway School). Old Camdenians
Retrieved 31 January 2015 He worked in a gentlemen's outfitter, where he was a representative of the

USDAW The Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers (Usdaw) is a trade union in the United Kingdom, consisting of over 360,000 members. Usdaw members work in a variety of occupations and industries including: shopworkers, factory and warehouse wor ...

trade union, which sponsored him to study for a diploma at Ruskin College, Oxford. In 1955 he matriculated at

Merton College, Oxford Merton College (in full: The House or College of Scholars of Merton in the University of Oxford) is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Its foundation can be traced back to the 126 ...

, taking a first class honours degree in philosophy, politics and economics (PPE) in 1957 before going on to read for a DPhil at

Nuffield College, Oxford Nuffield College () is one of the Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. It is a graduate college specialising in the social sciences, particularly economics, politics and sociology. N ...

, where he held a research fellowship from 1959 to 1963.

Career

In 1965 he was appointed research director at the Royal Commission on Trade Unions and Employers’ Associations. The commission was established by the Wilson government and led ultimately to the " In Place of Strife" reform proposals of 1969. McCarthy led on a wide range of research projects, including work on the election of shop stewards. In 1978 McCarthy arbitrated in a dispute brought by the rail union, ASLEF over bonus payments for the drivers of the high-speed Advanced Passenger Train.

Personal life and death

McCarthy married Margaret Godfrey, and they lived for many years in Old Headington, Oxford. He was a supporter of the

British Humanist Association Humanists UK, known from 1967 until May 2017 as the British Humanist Association (BHA), is a charitable organisation which promotes secular humanism and aims to represent non-religious people in the UK through a mixture of charitable servic ...

. McCarthy died from

bronchopneumonia Bronchopneumonia is a subtype of pneumonia. It is the acute inflammation of the Bronchus, bronchi, accompanied by inflamed patches in the nearby lobules of the lungs. citing: Webster's New World College Dictionary, Fifth Edition, Copyright 2014 ...

at the

John Radcliffe Hospital John Radcliffe Hospital (informally known as the JR or the John Radcliffe) is a large tertiary teaching hospital in Oxford, England. It forms part of Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and is named after John Radcliffe (physician) ...

on 18 November 2012, at the age of 87.

Selected works

* ''The Closed Shop in Britain'' (1964) * ''The Role of Shop Stewards in British Industrial Relations'' (1966) * ''Trade Unions'' (1972, 1985) * ''Coming to Terms with Trade Unions'' (1973) * ''Strikes in Post-War Britain'' (1983) * ''Fairness at Work'' (1999)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mccarthy, William, Baron Maccarthy 1925 births 2012 deaths 20th-century English male writers 20th-century English non-fiction writers People educated at Holloway School Fellows of Nuffield College, Oxford Labour Party (UK) life peers Alumni of Merton College, Oxford Alumni of Nuffield College, Oxford Life peers created by Elizabeth II People from Headington Deaths from pneumonia in England Writers from the London Borough of Islington